Malthus’ nightscape is nigh, yo-
Frugal survivalism as if prepping is time sensitive

daily ad

Friday, November 4, 2016

armor up? 2 of 2

ARMOR UP 2

Usually the scenario being
used to justify body armor is taken from fiction.The fed dudes attack at 3am ( just as they
were taught by the Soviet KGB-but we are in the land of the free so of course
it is not the same thing at all ) and our chiseled chin all American hero is
awoken by his faithful companion Sparky who would have barked a bit earlier but
he was busy being nose deep in his ass getting an early morning snack-but, you
know, whatever dude because dogs are still better than electronics-and after
leaping from bed he quickly dons his body armor and grabs his All-‘Murican M14
with night vision device to battle his evil nemesis’( I can’t for the life of
me remember which militia porn novel that was from ).I think that the above is more of a
cautionary tale about living in a typical suburban house than it is about
needing armor.If you are that worried
the Feds are going to shoot you in bed, I’d be armoring the house a heck of a
lot better, not my scrawny ass.Cement
and rebar filled cinderblock, bars ( and heavy duty screen for grenades ) on
the windows and a steel door with sufficient anchors and steel bar levels isn’t
as cheap as a vest, but it sure isn’t a terrible investment either.Hell, you need that just to live in NYC or
L.A. right now anyway.

*

Here is another aspect of
wearing a vest I’d be concerned about.It is a huge blinking sign saying. “please, Sir, may I ‘ave another
round in me face?”.It is all well and
good to envision wearing armor at home or behind barricades, but if a breech
does occur, are you sure you want to advertise that your assailant should shoot
you in the head?Again, if you are
wearing thin enough armor to be concealed, it will mostly just stop pistol
rounds.Which is great for a cop, but in
a more war-like setting, everyone is going to be armed with more than a mere
pistol.If you and your enemies are ONLY
using pistols because of their concealability, that means you are in a criminal
or terrorist situation, but not a real shooting war.And I am talking about war here, not the
others.Survivalists are going to see
war, not a revolution or a police action ( I seriously hope you don’t live in a
crime zone or plan on being in a situation you can’t run away from if the
alleged terrorists attack-and I say “alleged” because I’m convinced they are
all false flag attacks sponsored by nation state intelligence agencies.Again, fiction loves those rural/small town
attacks to showcase vulnerability, but historically state sponsored terrorism
doesn’t work that way ).War means
shotguns and carbines and thin armor doesn’t do jack against them at close
range.So if you wear a “real” rifle
stopper, they can see it.

*

Proponents of armor also
point to studies showing cloth headgear wearing troops suffering something like
600% increases in shrapnel injuries, used to justify the issuance of, at first,
metal and then Kevlar helmets.Then the
TactiCool preppers buy their own brain buckets in an orgy of military worship
and think they are now indestructible.We’ll ignore the difference between flack jackets and bullet proof
jackets for now.This brings us full
circle back to the mobility and effectiveness aspects.It also points out the use of statistics to
justify actions to solve a different problem.Helmets are named brain buckets for a reason.The troops who actually see combat are not
the same personnel that approve issued equipment.Two thirds of your head are still exposed, so
a helmet lost the same utility after WWI as a bayonet did.They are good for sticking your head up in a
trench while under artillery barrage and not much else.In the open, they are good containers for the
remains of your exploded head and face.Don’t confuse helmets with vests and don’t confuse shrapnel with
bullets.

*

The last aspect of vests
are the financial.It is all well and
good to say your life is worth $300 ( or whatever amount-it can go up to $3k as
you justify a thirty caliber battle rifle with night vision ).Is your life worth $300k?Evidently not because you won’t leave your
McMansion smack dab in the middle of an urban sprawl of millions.But I shan’t digress there again.No, I’m merely saying that being poor and
frugal, shouldn’t you be thinking of taking your very limited prepper budget
and doing something smarter with it?$300 of wheat is almost three years worth of calories.Don’t you think the odds of running out of
food are greater than the odds of an overrated piece of equipment being able to
save you ( remember, in the movies an armor wearing combatant manfully “shakes
it off” and continues on.In a lot of
cases, in real life, a hospital is needed to go along with that vest )?

*

$300 won’t buy a whole lot
of ammunition anymore, granted, but isn’t more ammo likely to come in much more
handy than a vest that may or may not work as advertised?I think your family is better off with more
food and more ammunition to fight back with, rather than a magical talisman to
protect them as they passively cower.The food can give them strength to shoot more ammo at the assailants
PRIOR to getting shot.Now, having said
all that, you might think no price is too high to pay to increase your survival
odds.I can’t say much against
that.If you are financially in a
position to spend the money on what you perceive to be a needed piece of
equipment, it might help and most likely couldn’t hurt ( just don’t get pissy
with me if it gets you shot in the face ), so why not?But if you are pinching pennies and watching
your spending, I’d call this one over rated.I certainly don’t own a vest, nor do I seem to covet one no matter how
much war gamming I do.But of course, to
each his own.

END

Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon ad graphics at
the top of the page.IF YOU DON’T SEE
THE AD, DISABLE AD BLOCK ( go to the Ad Blocker while on my page and scroll
down the menu to “disable this site” ). You can purchase anything, not just the
linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other
item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is
placed, I get credit for your purchase. For those that can’t get the
ads because they are blocked by your software, just PayPal me occasionally or
buy me something from my Amazon Wish List once a year.Pay your author-no one works for free.I’m nice enough to publish for mere Book
Money, so do your part.****Contact Information* Links
To Other Blogs * Land In Elko* Lord Bison* my bio & biblio* my web site is www.bisonprepper.com*wal-mart
wheat*Link To All
My Published Books*By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there

40 comments:

Shotgun pellets are no trouble for soft armor. They're relatively soft material, at low velocity, and low mass. A 00 buck pellet weighs 53 grains if I recall correctly. Not at all an issue for the least expensive soft armor.

Here's something I found that I've been thinking about for defending a fixed position where your head/face is the biggest area of exposure. Sure, if you actually took a .44 mag to the face it'd probably snap your neck, but it'd be great for 9mm stuff and glancing hits/shrapnel from your cover. Thoughts? https://www.bluedefense.com/ballistic-face-masks/ballistic-face-mask-threat-level-3a.htmlPeace out

Just taking a look at it without doing any research, I'm left wondering if this items needs an attached dentist or surgeon to go along with it. Will a round break your jaw? You won't be dead but other trauma injuries WITHOUT a trip to a hospital, might kill you anyway. It can save you now, but post-modern medical care?

USGI kevlar helmet is designed to defeat a 9x19mm pistol round at close range. But, it will not defeat a faster-smaller bullet like Tokarev 7.62x25 or a 9x19 Luger fired from a carbine. I would focus on helmet as a useful defense against the interiors of military vehicles and caves. If a bomb goes off near you (as I expect a N. Am insurgency to duplicate & improve on the IED/EFP warfare used by the overseas enemies of the US Army) a helmet will reduce penetrating injuries as well as concussion somewhat. Don't be in the open, or near bombs going off.

Face armor? Run faster. Face armor might be useful for miners or loggers. Add definitive medical care within 30 minutes to help the individual, or just breed rapidly and often.

Yep. as everyone else on the last article said - fix ballistic protection (aka sandbags, masonry, etc.) is the way to go on a budget. Once you have your 70 years worth of freeze dried food to go with your 140 years worth of grain, THEN you can think about the kevlar vests for the occasional raiding party you might join or other precisely predictable events of violence...

well food for 1 person assuming perfect preservation for that length of time. Divide it by the # of members of your tribe it will go much less far, even if they immediately begin trying to find supplemental foodstuffs (and good luck convincing them of that before the gruel becomes so boring that they start to go nuts.)140 years for one person is only 56,000 lbs. Two semi truck loads or there abouts. Where I live I get passed by a half dozen semi truck fulls almost every day, and two dozen during harvest season. For a couple hundred bucks I can fill up the bed of my pick-up with grains or beans. 1 pick up bed load a week would get me all the grain I need for 140 years in 1 year. Keeping dry and pest free would be the real challenge, around her they use 'grain bags' that are big long plastic tubes probably 12 feet wide and 100 feet long and 4 - 5 foot tall, perfect for having ballistic protection and food too. ;-). But the point remains - lots more food than you think you need (in preserved grain/beans) THEN worry about any armor other than fixed location fortifications.

Farm country is one thing, retail another. I'd spend $13k retail, plus another $7k if I went with buckets ( ferrocement is probably a better bet ). Most folks could do that if they bought a little less house, but still...extreme.

I see a vest as a psychological tool. Have a scared young punk you need to help protect the tribe. Put him in a uniform, feed him a heart felt line of bs, then wrap him in a vest and armor. Instant cannon fodder!

“Now, having said all that, you might think no price is too high to pay to increase your survival odds. I can’t say much against that.”

Well, if nothing else you could always set that flak jacket down over one of your favorite dining set chairs prior to having Rosie O'Dumbbell, or guests of similar magnitude over for dinner :D

But on a more serious note, it seems that there really isn't much that I have seen in the way of head protection. If you anticipate a situation in which you must poke your head out in a compromising position, it probably wouldn't hurt to have a periscope (simple technology for the handyman using a couple of diagonal mirrors). Earthbag, brick, or cinder block structures would be pretty repellent to smaller caliber fire, and probably in most cases, even larger caliber fire, in addition to being fireproof. Earth sheltered would be even better. Eye/ear protection is probably good defense against flashbang type attacks. Think of those shooting earmuff deals that amplify ordinarily, but with circuitry that cuts out sound levels past a certain decibel, and welding glass lenses. I think the Rancho Costa Nada dude simply lined his crappy wooden shack with sandbags, and it was enough to stop large caliber fire, so that's an econo option consideration.

The Ranch Costa guy ( I bought a Kindle novel of his-support your favorite authors-and it was bizarre but good. Weird abrupt cut off at the end, though ) was going for insulation, but got the bags close to free. For desert living, i.e. dry dirt, I'd consider dirt filled tire walls. If you live in a wetter clime you would need to stucco and rebar reinforce the wall. The "earthship" concept is too labor intensive, with beating the dirt in the tires down. Loose fill should have most of the benefits without the labor. Not sure if this is pertinent to our armor discussion.

It's the financial logistics of the thing that keeps people from moving to the areas with less potential violence. We did just that, 10+ years ago, and it wasn't cheap. Without getting into deep detail, the move alone cost about $14k, then we had to put $40k down on the new place.

That was from a new house on a 1/4 acre (80'x125') subdivision lot in southwest Florida (Fort Myers/Cape Coral) with neighbors everywhere, to a 4 acre (300' x 400') heavily wooded and dual sloped rural property (in the northern midwest) with all surrounding neighbors on much larger acreage. It is about 800' from my front door to the front door of the closest neighbor (measured with google earth).

For me, peace of mind is a necessity and worth every penny no matter how much it costs.

Regarding security. It is about 150' from where the driveway touches the road to our front door. My mutt has very good hearing and is very loud - she hears it all. I will see you before you get within 100' of my front door.

Further, the entire front of the property along the road has a very steep, almost inaccessible, 30' wide dirt berm that is heavily littered with mature hard wood trees, deadfall, bramble, and rocks. I've seen deers stumble and fall trying to cross that berm either way. Most people cannot cross that berm from the road and those that do will make enough noise that they will be easy pickins from the front porch.

The entire house is surrounded by an 8' wide roofed wooden deck with railing and the floor is about 6' above the existing grade. Entry is by 2 different stairways or a 30' bridge to my detached garage/office.

It ain't perfect and there's a lots of room for improvement but it is a much more secure environment than what I came from.

Forgot, the rear and sides of the house are very heavily wooded and steeply sloped and littered with deadfall and bran]mble and a small creek. It will take a desperate varmint indeed to access our crib illegally.

My biggest concern is with the legal thugs that will stride right up to the front door in broad daylight with full armored stack. They are just the down payment because even if they are eliminated by Rem 870's and AR15s even more will follow them up in minutes.

It sounds like a sweet set up, but obviously you can do it cheaper. My move-$300 gas, $1k tires, $3k trailer and $6k land. And most of that was on payments. If you want to add the cost of Florida to Nevada, prior to the move from central to northern, add $3k. You got a lot more for your money, my point is it can be as cheap as gas money, some plywood and lumber, and $1oo down payment on junk land.

I'd like to make the case in favor of a headshot. Quick, painless, that's it. No writhing around in pain for hours or some jackass warming up an iron to cauterize the stump your former neighbor just created when sawing off your leg. I guess you won't be asking for that saw back. It's probably best to get those tools back now as after the apocalypse it could literally bite you in the ass.

On a serious note body armor is foolish once modern medicine is gone. It only works now because it protects center mass. Appendage's can be fixed but not in PODA. Here is a neat easy history read .The surgery report is what is applicable here.http://facts.randomhistory.com/civil-war-facts.html

Buy a old one. The point being that old fashioned heavy duty winter clothing does wonders in stoping stuff. Bibles have stoped a lot of bullets in the past as well. I once saw a pair of industrial safety glasses that some one had shot with a 22lr and it hadn't penetrated the lense. Aussie

The 9mm fmj is one of the most efficient penetrators of any handgun round, and equals many rifles (for penetration, not energy transfer). Check this 12 minute video from Iraqveteran8888.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wXFf34bB34Peace out

619-okay, it penetrates. But FMJ, does it wound adequately? The whole point of the 45 was stopping power. The whole point of the 9mm is for limp wristed officers and girls to feel included in the fight.

Well, in my case wearing the vest or worse vest + plates would kill my lazy ass quick. I'll just fall in one of the mud holes in my drive and hide until they figure out all the beer and chips are gone. My only exposure would be if they pick that particular hole to drive through on the way out and then I'd likely die quick anyway.OTW to shoot one of my evil plastic poodle shooters with my backwoods cousin humper nephews. Have fun in the decline!

Always have a rotated fresh bag of chips and a six pack of Oly beer. Kind of like milk and cookies for Santa-the evil German Santa that eats the small children who misbehave ( Krampus? )-but for potential looters. If they leave, fine. If they get greedy and want more, Claymores. Set this up at the neighbors house, obviously.

The scenario you describe unfolding is from the Boston T Party book. Molon Labe. The man is a good writer with some fine ideas...However when I read his some of his Tactical Tommy stuff I've gotta chuckle.

Darn good book, eh? One of the better militia porn ones. I think his best non-fiction is the Y2K one. His worst one is the last three on cultural training of the young in old fashion values. I got it free on KU and thought I was being ripped off. Almost nothing but a book of quotes. Gun Bible still invaluable even if it is Totally Tommy Tactical.

The 1st book of his cultural training manual series I thought was actually pretty decent. High minded and likely not anything I would've listened to as a youngster though. Virtue was/is not my wheelhouse.

I must moderate-trust me. You don't want to see what happens otherwise. Sometimes it takes awhile to respond as I only check two or three times a day. No N-Bombs, nothing to get me libeled. Otherwise, have at it. If you criticize me, make sure to praise my hair first.